If you wish to undertake full-time graduate study at the University of Cambridge, you will be required to live in or close to Cambridge for at least the minimum period of study.

This means you must live

within ten miles of the city centre for research students and those taking most other graduate courses; or

within three miles of the centre for students of the LLM degree.

You will normally be required to live in Cambridge throughout the year, apart from short breaks taken between terms. Part-time graduate students have attendance rather than residence requirements, and must live close enough to Cambridge to fulfil these.

The Colleges are able to house many of their full-time graduate students, either in the Colleges themselves or in graduate hostels or purpose-built flats. However, few Colleges can house all their student members. You may prefer to find your own living accommodation independently of the College, or may have to do so; this is more likely to be the case if you come to Cambridge with a partner or children as there is only limited College accommodation for couples and families.

If your College is unable to provide accommodation for you, you can get help from the Accommodation Service and the Graduate Union. The Accommodation Service is responsible for letting 360 University-owned properties. These are a mixture of furnished and unfurnished one-, two- and three- bedroom flats and houses located at different sites across the city. Demand for these is high and priority is given to those who are new to Cambridge.

The Accommodation Service can also provide help and advice on finding suitable private rented accommodation in Cambridge. There is strong demand for such accommodation and this means it can be expensive and sometimes hard to find. Some students come to Cambridge before the start of their course in order to make appropriate arrangements. You should not, however, come to Cambridge to find somewhere to live unless you have had confirmation of your admission from the Board of Graduate Studies.

If you have any difficulties or queries regarding this, please contact your College or Student Registry.